London, July 19: On Sunday, Rohit Sharma and captain Shubman Gill forged a remarkable 147-run partnership off 146 balls against England at Lord’s. Earlier, England’s innings featured century partnerships between Ben Duckett/Jacob Bethel and Ben Duckett/Joe Root. This marked the first time that both innings at Lord’s witnessed century partnerships.
In England’s innings, the Duckett/Bethel duo amassed 192 runs for the first wicket off 181 balls. Following this, Duckett and Root added 101 runs for the second wicket in just 80 balls. Thanks to these partnerships, the hosts posted a total of 387 runs for the loss of three wickets, setting a record for the highest score at Lord’s.
This is only the second instance in ODI history where both teams have recorded opening partnerships of over 140 runs. The first occurrence was during a match between India and Sri Lanka in Rajkot in 2009, where Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag scored 153 runs for India, while Sri Lanka’s Tillakaratne Dilshan and Upul Tharanga added 188 runs as openers. India won that match by just three runs after setting a score of 414/7.
Additionally, this partnership is now the second-largest for India at Lord’s. The record is held by Suresh Raina and Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who scored 169 runs for the fifth wicket in 2014. Rahul Dravid and Yuvraj Singh also had a notable 131-run partnership for the fifth wicket in 2002, while Yuvraj and Mohammad Kaif added 121 runs for the sixth wicket in the same year.
Team India won the first ODI of the series against England by six wickets. However, England leveled the series by winning the second match by four wickets. The third and final match has now become a decisive encounter.
Leave a Comment